Organizational Dynamics

When is it Cute to Come Out at Work? [video]

Haig Chahinian

Coming out at work can be cute when it’s presented in an animated video! Leeds Animation Workshop (LAW) in the U.K. produced this richly-textured and poignant video about a mechanic who comes out at work. The word “gay” is not once mentioned, yet the message is clear.

LAW produces animated films on social issues such as workplace equal opportunities, bereavement, and environmental issues, and runs introductory courses in animation, too.

Our sense is that the video producers bring their full wherewithal to their projects, because the Workshop’s films are all triple-threat:  elegant, educational and entertaining.

The only problem with the video is Ryan’s mullet. Kidding, we find it totally endearing.

What do you think about the video?

Sparring With a Colleague? Here’s How to Work It.

Haig Chahinian

Rivalry with a coworker can be tense, uncomfortable, and–you guessed it–productive. While we may attempt to quell competitive dynamics with workmates, the tension can be instructive. Hillary Clinton recently worked her 2008 tussle with Barack Obama to poetic effect.

In the Balkans last month to promote unity between Herzegovina and Bosnia, the Secretary of State recounted a heated time in her past:

Mrs. Clinton said the United States supported constitutional reform, but she added that Bosnia could not move forward unless its Serbs, Muslims and Croats figured out a way to put country ahead of ethnicity. That, she said, is what she and her former rival, and current boss, did.

“I tried to beat him,” Mrs. Clinton told a mixed group of students during the town hall meeting. “And he won. And then when he won, he asked me to work for him.”

“I’m often asked how could I go to work for President Obama after I tried to beat him,” Mrs. Clinton added. “And the answer is simple. We both love our country. That has to be the mind-set here.”

The former US Senator from New York worked a part of her story that may have more comfortably lain buried with the past. Yet she brought it to the fore in order to make a point about the possibilities of unity against complex forces. This example of using her self demonstrated her presence in the moment, indicating to her audience that she was available to think out loud with them about the complexities of the issue.

While competition has inherent merit–prompting us to engage more fully in the task, bringing out our best effort, and connecting us to those with whom we’re competing–relating the experience of battling with someone can be even more valuable. This includes expressing what the rivalry means about you, your work and your relationships. Given Clinton’s context of building world peace, talking about these sensitive dynamics is clearly worthwhile.

When have you spoken out loud to the competition you’ve felt with a colleague? What resulted?

Image of Clinton and Obama via

The Secret Motivator to Keep You Employed Past 2020

Haig Chahinian

Remember the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico this past summer? It’s hard to forget, and yet it can be hard to remember with so much to distract us from ourselves.  While the well was hemorrhaging into the Gulf, some said President Obama was not angry enough about the situation. Concurrently, Americans were angry that the economic climate was less than robust and the unemployment rate was still relatively high.

Ultimately President Obama demonstrated leadership in making space for Americans to feel their own frustration about the spill.

What can we do with our anger about what’s going on in the world? And more pressingly, how do we

  • help the Gulf of Mexico recover
  • exploit sustainable sources of energy, and
  • increase our rates of employment?

Get this: anger isn’t always bad. It can motivate us to solve the problems that make us angry, such as the British Petroleum oil spill. Which is hard, because our inclination is to suppress this uncomfortable feeling. Instead of fighting it, let’s think about what we could accomplish — professionally — if we could

  • access our anger
  • understand its origins, and
  • address the origins in a way that makes us feel better.

Sounds pretty good, no? In this scenario we would be employed (yay!), and we’d be solving big problems.

Enter the Post Carbon Institute, which produced the video above.  Founded in 2003, it’s striving to determine how we can prevent the depletion of natural resources and still thrive in the world, a puzzle that will take years of strategizing and implementation.  This means potential work for many, many people through 2020 and beyond.

Was it born out of someone’s anger? If the founders examined the emotional experience that prompted the creation of the organization, we would expect to find at least a little anger in there, along with hope. The two can exist together, side by side.

Maybe a little anger motivated the production of “300 Years of Fossil-Fueled Addiction in 5 Minutes,” given the current world-wide policies on petroleum consumption? Why not?

Has anger informed your work? How?

Not Listening at Work Can Be a Pain in the Mouth

Haig Chahinian

During a session of the Upper House’s constitutional affairs commission in Argentina this week, legislator Graciela Camano hit talkative lawmaker Carlos Kunkel on the mouth. Is this a reasonable resolution to a budget argument? Not really.

Aggression is an all-too-real component of human nature, so of course it exists in the workplace.  Because these feelings can be hard to tolerate–in yourself or in others–it may be helpful to work towards:

1. How you can channel aggressive feelings more productively, and
2. How we all might prevent frustration on the job from turning into rage.

We can relate to what Camano must have felt leading up to that slap: anger, competition, disappointment, frustration and resentment–a veritable cornucopia of unpleasant emotions. While it’s difficult to manage such feelings from workday to workday, physical assault is never an acceptable solution. Unless you’re a professional boxer, natch.

So what’s a workable solution?

In the video, it appears that neither Camano nor Kunkel is listening to the other. Camano stated she’s “been putting up with him all year long” and that “he is always attacking” her, which suggests they may not have a history of listening to each other.

Because budget-related issues often underscore complex, ideological questions, all lawmakers involved in the Upper House’s constitutional affairs commission could benefit from improving their active listening skills.

Have you lost control of yourself at work? What prompted you, and what resulted?

How to Innovate Using Only Rocks and a Bike

Haig Chahinian

Your Facebook friends on the East Coast may be talking lately about the gorgeous fall weather, and this past Sunday was both colorful and warm.  We took the opportunity to go to the playground.

While watching our daughter navigate a maze-like climber, we saw a cyclist. Riding on the rocks above the playground! We quickly called her to look at the wondrous sight of two elements that don’t typically belong together: a bicycle and a big rock. Of course she was nonplussed, and soon returned to her own climbing.

Yet this man continued to maneuver over the schist, elegantly manipulating his bicycle like it were a horse. Just look at him! To us this represents the utmost in innovation.

When we bring together two disparate ideas, something new happens. In our case, we began to view the mound of rock as a conduit rather than an obstacle. And we saw the bicycle as a vehicle to scale uneven and high terrain. From here, our mind was open to build on these concepts and consider more and newer possibilities.

It started with this man’s desire, pure and simple. He wanted to ride his bike over these rocks, which propelled him over each and every bump and chasm. The prospect of getting what we want can be a powerful motivator, and often when we pursue something simply because we want to, great things happen.

Switching up the typical context of our world is a foundation for how we can innovate in our organizations. Then allowing ourselves to seek what we want, we’re free to experience the unexpected and wonderful results.

Have you innovated by leveraging something out of its context?

What Would the Repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” Mean for You?

Haig Chahinian

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Comptroller Robert Hale | Sec of Defense Robert Gates | Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff Navy Adm. Mike Mullen
The American workplace will likely be getting sexier. And more productive.

In a report headed for President Obama’s desk, the Pentagon concluded there is minimal risk to lifting “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” the ban on gays and lesbians serving openly in the military.  Indeed earlier this week Defense Secretary Robert Gates said repealing the ban is inevitable. Yay!

So the leadership of one of the largest and most powerful organizations in the world–which historically has forced its members into the closet–will be saying it’s OK to bring your sexual identity, of any stripe, to work.

What does this mean for the American workplace as a whole?

On an unconscious–yet very real–level, it will give the rest of us permission to bring our own sexual identity, of any stripe, to our place of work. It may take a while to experience, yet the freedom to exist as sexual beings at work may spark a wave of increased productivity across the nation.

Sounds crazy? Pop singer Ricky Martin felt “a floodgate of energy and creativity just really exploded” after he came out as a gay man, according to his producer Desmond Child. Proclaiming his sexuality to the public, essentially his work environment, has directly impacted his output. His memoir Me is currently among the Top 100 Amazon “Bestsellers in Books.”

One problem in considering the broader implications of bringing sexy back to the workplace is our inclination to quash feelings of sex on the job. Rather than prompting cases of harassment or extra-marital affairs, our sexual energy can be harnessed in service of our task, as long as we’re grounded in our humanity. This may take the form of bringing us closer to our colleagues or clients, for example, and making our day-to-day moments more fun. Imagine this!

Sexuality in the workplace is a complex issue, and one we will continue to explore.

In what ways have you accessed your sexual energy in service of a work task?

Photo of Martin via

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Whose Business is Your Colleagues’ Orientation?

Haig Chahinian

A bit of a trick question, for those who’ve bookmarked the previous blog name “It’s Everybody’s Business.”

The “Ask the White Guy” column at Diversity Inc. answers the question thoughtfully, and many of the comments feel spot-on.

To wit, from the article:

Promotions, especially to senior management, require a great deal of mutual trust—something that is impossible to develop if you’re forced to hide such a fundamental part of who you are.

Take a look at “Do You Need to Know the Orientation of Your Coworkers?”

[Photo via]